The Sun. — London, England, 1808-09-20 00:00:00

7 DRE4DFUL FIRE. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. • .; Ekix. iiouses BoW-street are totally destroyed; 151 . 4 s eventh little more than the exterior walls P.re left, 444 On an eighth house the engines were playing w hen our Paper was put to Press, as they were also on ruins of the Theatre, which are Still burning. t3 nl3' the doorway of the Theatre remains in Bow street, and that is partly in flames. The walls of the T heatre in Hart-street remain, but are in a tottering state, The flames took a dire&i on t owar ds B ow -st ree t, t he wind being- westerly, and did not burn through the Piazza, on the Covent Garden side, nor have they done much damage on that side. 4 strong detachment of Horse Guards are station ed l 4 -- th, adjacent streets to keep off the mob. T he amount of the insurance in the Theatre, we Under tan to be 75,000/. which will not cover half the loss. iFnn lense crowd were colleaed in all quarters rouTnid the scene of devastation. a few hours haian edifice been destroyed " added to the stock of harmless plea f •or nearl y a ce ntury ; an d a cons id era bl e num ()l. pers Qns ' are thus instantly deprived of employ- About four b'clock this morning this extensive edifice was discovered to be in flames. The fire was so rapid ihat no exertion could stop its course ; and in a short time the whole of the Theatre, with all the scenery, wardrobe, &c. were totally destroyed. The flames extended to the back of the Shakes peare Tavern, and the Piazza Coffee-house, and in Bow-street, several houses are • entirely / destroyed. The Treasurer (Mr. HUGHES), though infirm, con trived to.secure all the books and papers relative, to the concerns of the Theatre, as well as the produce of last night's performance. Notwithstanding the. Theatre was surrounded by vast collootions of water„ yet such was the rapidity with which the fire raged, that it was impossible to check its progress. A con siderable number of engines promptly attended, but there was a shameful want of water for some time, Which has been too severely experienced upon many recent'.occahions. Mr. BRANDON, the box-book, and house-keeper, bad taken his usual round of the Theatre, to 'see that all was safe, at twelve o'clock ; when all ap peared to be so, both to his observation, and . to that of the watchman stationed in the house. It•is im possible to learn how this calamity originated —but from the part at which it first appeared, it is suppos ed to have commenced in one of the scene rooms, adjacent to Hart-street, and from thEnce instantly communicated to the stage. ,We lament to state that several lives were lost in consequence of having drawn an engine, belonging to the Phoenix fire-office, into the passage leading from the Piazza. It was supposed by the Foreman t hat by this means part of the Theatre might'be lit ore effeaually preserved, but unfortunately the 4r6in.s pi - the house gaVe way, and the engine, and the • firemen attending it, were buried in the ruins. We a re unable at present accurately to ascertain the number of) persons killed by this melancholy accid ent we have heard- sixteen : the whole of whom, except two, were firemen. The bodies of several of them have been brought out. The number of the bodies got out of the ruins is elev en. —Amongst those killed is a Volunteer, who went i n with the Engine 'to assist- the Firetnen. , Only two of those who went in with the Engine e scapvd.. Soule of the scenery has beeri saved, and is now Under the Piazza ; but it is comparatively of very trifling amount. Alent. • • The St. Jateemes's, St. Clement's, and other V o lun4 Corps likewise several spoedily a tte n d e d ; :s pirited young men, as codstables, who prevented d epredation s from being committed on the effeols of the sufferers. Mr. HARRIS, jun. set off to Uxbridge to inform father of the sad calamity. Mr. KEMBLE and many Of the principal performers assembled 011 the ()c , casi ''n• The wardrobe, &c. were of cou rse insur e", but Probably very inadequately, considering that new 40cl extensive additions were daily making : A considerable quantity of silk velvet was sent yeste rday f or m eta h as inspe6tion. whi c h the clevourh4g„el-7. also consumed• ItiS c o!ifide nt l y reported. that this melancholy even t did not break out in one particular spot, but that when it was first discovered it appeared in seve ral parts of the 'Theatre, an d h ence it has been con that it was not the eft - eft of accident. The most minute inquiries will o f if the re course take place, a n 4, is any proof of guilt, we trust that the vile Miscreants will be brou g ht to due punishment. It is but justic e to Mr. HARRIS, Jun. and to Mr. KEINIELE, who were on the spot, to state, that the bare the calamity with the utmost fortitudei and endeavoured as much as possible•to consol47those who were as with the Theatre, and:-More 'depressed by the dreadful event than themselves. M. BRANDON appeared to be deeply affe&ed, / but bo exerted himself to the utmost in all praaicable efic,orts to preserve the property. We doubt not that Mr. HARRIS, Sen. will 'eceive the melancholy tidings with that firmness which has always marked hi; character. We sincerely hope that, as a numerous body of the inferior Performers and Servants of the Theatre will be thrown wholly out of employment, - and have pi!obably lost the .greater part of the little property they possessed, that a subscription will take place for their relief, to which, doubtless, every friend to hu tninity, as well as every" lover of the drama, will readily contribute. NAVAL N L WS. PORTSMOUTH, Sgrr. 19.—Sailed this day the Queen, of pB.guns, and Christian the Seventh,of‘B6 guns, to the eastward; also the Furious Gun-brig with a convoy for the Downs. SHEERNESS, SEPT. 18.—Arrived the Adamant; of 50 guns, rapt. MALEON; from the Downs—has brought 2b Spanish prisoners from the West Indies, which are put oti- board the Winchelsea to wait a conve)ance to Spain. SEPT. J 9.--Sailed the Adamant for Chathatn. . • Yesterday J. IFilmot, charged withbeing concern ed in stealing timber from a merchant's yai'd in . the River, was, by virtue of a Warrant from the Ma gistrates,: .delivered up from His Majesty'S Ship IPinchelsea to a Pulice Officer from Bow-Street. Sailed this His Majesty's Ships Rolla for Deal, and Gallant With convoy to Heligoland. Mr. R. GOODRIDGE, Purser of the' Euryalus, of 26 guns, at Chatham, is appointed to the 11 inchelsea , of 32 guns, at the Nore ; arid J. N. JEWELI; Of the lVn cfielsea, to the Euryalus. YARMOUTH, SEPT. I g. —Arrived his Majesty's Ships Thunderer, St. Alban's, Rosamond, Skylark, Havock, and Prince ,qf "Pales Cutter, and remains with liis.M3jebty's Slu i 's Roebuck, Calypso . , Bruizer, and Censor Gun-brigs, and . British Fair and Claudia Cutters. DEAL, SEPT. 19.—Arrived his Majesty's ships "Pal:spite from a cruize, and Zeniibe Ironi the West wa'iu, and remain with'the Ships as per last. • - The Marquis DE RONIANA arrived in town yes terday, he is attended by his Aid-de-Camp, Colonel OWONNEL. The Marquis is very, short in stature, but is elp enlightened clever Officer. O'DONNEL is very tali, _Sand of a commanding. figure. They state, that riot more than '4,500 of the Spaniards are lett behind, web are tor the IIIOSI part in Zealand. Most of those who had escaped were put on board transports at Goitenuurgh, and sere to proceed north about to Spain. The remainder were waiting for transports, which were daily expected, and there is little doubt that the whole are by this time on their way to Spain. The Marquis had not heard from Spain tor three months previous to his escape with his army f rom F u l men, nor was he aware of the situation of his country, until he was made ac qeainted with it from England. . FOOT-RACE.—One of the beat foot-races ever known, took place yesterday, between a Gentleman of the name of Williams, and Cooke the Soldier, for 50 guineas a-side. Lord's Cricket-ground was the scen e o f a cti on , At three o'clock, there was a numerous assemblage of amateurs upon the ground. Bets were at that time 6 to 4 in favour of Cooke. At half past three; the judges appeared ; the round was Ineaqued, 200 yards, and enclosed on each side with a rope - line. At four o'clock, the two swift footed heroes came,: dressed. only in white panta loons:and without shoes. The line ou each side was two deep. Bets now became even. The signal for starting was given' by the firing of a pistol. It took place at a quarter past four. They both started at the same instant, and kept elbow to elbow' for the first 100 yards, when Cooke took the lead, until the first 150 yards. Mr. Williams then came up with him, and got again elbow to elbow, until the tgo yards, when Cooke again took the lead, and kept it to the winning post. Mr, Willi a m s a pp eare d much. tired. Cook e was quite fresh, and won by a yard and a half. The . race was run in e 6 seconds and a half. Mr. Williams has challenged to run Cooke again, 150 yards, for 10 . 0 guineas. The challenge has been accepted. :BoxiNG MATCHES. —Beside s Ole grand match will take place on the uoth of October, be tween Gregson and Crib, the following have also been made, Jem Belcher is matched against Elias Sprey the ceppersmith, who fought the Chicken, • and' Richman the Black is about to contend with a Kentish man. • • ROWING MATCII.-Parry, a waterman, belong ing to Hungerford Stairs, has undertaken, for a wager of tW'ettly guineas, to row a wherry from London Bridge to Gravesend and back again, in ten succes ..,,aive hours! It has been accepted; and it is allowed `by the "amateurs one of the most extraordinary un - liertakings ever engaged in. The distance is sixty— six miles. Bets are five to four against it. It will take plaCe in a few days. An inquisition was, taken yesterday at a public house on the New Canal, Islington, on the body of a young roan, of the name of Howse, who was found drowned on Saturday. The deceased, who was, the son of reputable parents, was only nineteen years of age, and it was supposed that a dishonest act, to supply an appetite for gaming, was the cause of his suicide: The last that was seen of him was at a public house at Hornsey on Friday, when he appeared in a dejected, melancholy state. A se rious charge of felony had been instituted against him.' Verdict—Lunacy. • The Earl of —, observing that he should go to 'the masquerade, asked Colonel what new charaaer he should go in ? "Go sober," replied the sallaut officer. RUSSIAN ACC011:1T OF T :CRESS OF E ILA If IN FINL/IND. ST. PETEIISBURGH, AUG. 24.—This day's Court. Gaiette contains a'Su a plement, with accounts of the War in 'Finland, to the following purpose " The position which the enemy had taken, near the Island of Sandos, the mouili of the passage from Relax, made it dubious. Whether,he could be overpowered without great sacrifice. Considering therefore the impOrtance of the enterprise, the Commander in Chief set out in perso n the night of the 20th Ally, with the General Von Suchtelen, and the couunanding General of the day. Lieut.-General Knomonta ; our Flotilla, under the command of Lieutenant-Getteral Baron Dodt, formed in the posi tion, near a narrow pass of the rocks of TawaSt ; the enemy were between . the Peninsula of Sandos and -the continent. - Their centre was covered by a bat tery built on an Island, in the middle-of the passage, and furnished with four twelve pounders, and the passages by . Water were defended by twenty-two gun-boats, under the cornmand. of Lieut.-Colonel Jansen. The Island of. Sandos was occupied_with land ,troops, who were making ha ha'S~ and lodge ments,. facing'Flemito, particularly where the ,water was fordable: The position was farther supported by 20 gun-boats and seven galleys that lay -in the ,eastern point of the Idand, under the command of Rear-Admiral Guldenstierna, who was Commander in Chief with this part of the troops.. On board the yacht his dispositions were made for a decisive' attack on the enemy, for seizing the• mouth, opening the passage to Abo, and occupying Saq,dos. Our flotilla having approached within a short dis tance on the 20th of July, a very warm cannonade began.- Thrice the enemy were put in disorder; .but they'each time retook their tor Mer positions, and kept us . in all points from approaching nearer. The warm cola& had actually lasted four hotis, the hope of routing the enemy had began to decrease, though our line was incessantly sown over_ with grape shot, from the _enemy's batteries, yet our gun-boats had not ceased courageously to advance. It was therefore ordered to attack the enemy in a decisive manner, without loss of tine. The enemy, disordered by our movements in their flank, andiee iPa also on his right a boat sink with her creW, and tett of their gun -boats converted into hulks, now began to retreat,. taking several othervessels in tow. Profiting by this contusion, our right flank bore with all its fdrce against the back of the battery, while the centre attacked it in front. The rein forcement which the enemy received' could not stop our penetrating,. particularly when. our right flank began to penetrate against the enemy's left, and the Russian coloprs had been hoi s ted o n the enemy's redoubt by C.ipt. Skerletou, second of the Staff of the Regiment et Minsk. The enemy were in such con, fusion, that they even ceased firing,' and found the utmost difficulty in escaping between the rocks in the rear of their position into the narrow passages, by crowdina s:tit, atter being - very roughly treated by our gun-boas, and the coast batteries Of Lieut. Demidow. During the pursuit of the enemy, two of our companies of rangers forded or swaitt over to the island; the enemy, panic-struck at this onexpeEted attack, were forced to retreat, setting fire to.different parts of the wood, in order. to stop our progress. On entering the spears the enemy received a freSh reinforcement of some galleys and gun-boats, and renewed the cannonade on'almot all our vessels that had been in the aation, and that .had nearly.ex pended all their cartridges. Thus the battle seemed already terminated, and our arms were .crowned with, victory, the Cotirtnander in' . Chief would return to the village of Westanskier, when he received adv;ce that the enemy again direaed his fire on our ad.; vanced guard, to occupy the'passes, while some of the enemy's troops bad made a descent glom the opposite side of Kamisto, and had cut of the retreat of our advanced posts.. They . approached 300 thorns nearer to our head-quarters, and were -out flanking us to the right with a columtrplose to the mountains, to cut us off from the road by the chinch of Kamisto, and that they were marching straight to the village, in order by so doing to cut off the retreat of the two companies of chasseurs who were placed there with two field-pieces. At this unexpected appearance of the enemy, ail the troops in the neighbourhood were put in motion. We learned the enemy had landed his troops Hear the village of Tortness ; they were 1200 men strong; under the CoMmander in Chief of Brigade, Col. Pahlen; and had six pieces of cannon with them. They were disembarked from the ship of the line Jungfrausund, and consisted of Stockholm inilitia,with some k'orne raniaritroops. At this superior force of the enemy it became necessary to take care not io lose our batteries, or maintaining our position on the coast, and prote&ing the fruits of our vittory, The enemy were 50 decidedly' attacked, that they began, after. scarce half an hours countenance, to return to their vessels, 18 in number, under cover of the gnn-boats. Lieut.-General Konowzyn ordeted the enemy to be more reduced on this occasion, and they were to tally routed, fled. in confusion on board their vessels, on which occasion a large vessel was taken and up-. wards of 50 men made prisoners.' Thus ended this . bloody engagement. by sea and land, which lasted' from three in the morning till eight at night. Many of the enemy's gun-boats were damaged, one sunk with the crew ; anoth e r was save d by a boat. Pri soners assure us they bad upwards of 1200 men in killed and_ wonuded. Among the prisoners are 10 • officers, with Lieut.-Colonel Jansen, and among the wounded the commander of the troops, Colonel Pahlen ; bur booty consists of his flags taken on this spot of anion from his gun-boats that were sunk,, four iron 12-pounderS, and six light 3-pounders, with the tutnbrils„of74 officers and 140 privates, of whom, however, some are, already dead• of their wounds.: we also took I,eo muskets, 12.0 cartridge boxes, 30 swords, two drums, and some transports Of good struaure, which were however burnt, as they could not be brought to our fleet, fearing anew attack of the enemy. On our part one officer, up wards of 120 privates, were killed : one staff-officer, six commissioned officers, and about 200 non-com missioned officers and privates were wounded.- 7 Thirty-five of our gun-boats , are damaged, but ten were repaired the same day, and the rt.inainifktr are still repairing. July Its, Read-quarters, City of Abo. POL:CE. . .. . GirrtakrzAti.- , --Yesterday two women, Mary Veal and Ann Bowdley, were brought before tile..e.illitig Alderman (PERatteC), charged with stalin . ii,, or re, , ' ceiving, knoWing,it.torbe stolen, a silver Too n, um Lproperty of Mr. C. surgeon, PalsgtaVe-court. • The two Prisoners, on Safurday evening, brotight the spoon in question. to the shop of Mr Parker, pawn-broker, with whom they otfe.red it in pled ge for seven shillingS. A suspicion arising in the mind of Mr. P.'s shopm,n that the spoon formed part or some property alluded to in a trial which h a d ta k en place at the Old B a il e y that forenoon, and which had not been discmeredthe women were detain ' ed, and questioned as to the way in wind, they had come by the spoon, when the Prisoner, Mary Veal, confessed that she had got it from James Veal, ser vant to the Prosecutor, to be pledged on his account. The other Prisoner seemed no fanner implicated in the trausadion than in having accompanied Mary Veal to the pawn-broker's. ~ Mr. Ctir wood, appeared not. as a pr o f ess i ona l man, but as a friend t o the Prosecutor. He stated that Mr. C. had been obliged to leat'e town; on urgent business, for some days, leaving a man servant and two female servants it, his house.. • In consequence of the apprehenSion of the Prisoners, it was d:s covered that since Mr. C. had left town a.number of articles of plate had disappeared hien] the howe, four or five duplicates of which the Pi isOner Veal; bad given up. Mr.. Curwood had no diubt that th e spoon was the pr o , tarty of the Pro.veutor, boi, he., did not think himself enticted.!o swear to if, and he only begged of the Magistrate to recominit the Pri soners ter a day or two, till the Prost.cutor's arrival in town.. He submitted that the sindple fad of Mary Veal's receiving from James Veal, at the house of his master, a spoon which she innsi have . known to be his master's property, and offering it in pledge, Was a receiving in the eye of the law. The worthy Alderman ordered the Prisoner Bowdley to be discharged, and :Wary Veal to bt committed for re-examtuation. MANSION-HOUSE.—YeS.terday James Fear was charged before the LORD. MAYOR, with getting pay ment for, a Bankers. check for 201. which.had been stolen from the -,counting-house of a trades Man on Saturday morning., Finding,. the check had been paid, suspicion fell upon the prisoner, who had ab- sconded; but, when apprehended, iai. of the money was found upon him. In defence, he did not deity having changed the check, which he said he found. The prisoner . was remanded for farther e2tainitia.; tion. MARLBOROUGH - STREET.—Yesterday a man of the name of Junes, who ha-, undergone several . pri , vale examinations at this Office, • on several charges of passing the notes of a hanki-house at Southamp, ton, which some months since shut up and stopt meat, and who had also been charged with forging a 21. Bank of England note, • was brought up fir final 'examination. The depositions of the several persons who had laid charges against the prisoner, tbr putting otf the South ampton notes, were read, and the parties bound over to prosecute; but. with respeit to the imputation of forgery laid against the pris o ner, th e Magistrates eon ceived- that there was not sufficient evidence io ground such a charge before a Jury, and were pleas ed to forego that accusation, but ordered him to find good bail fur his appearance at the next Middlesex Sessions, to take his trial for the other misde meanours. The prisoner, who.has several very respeoa%le connealons, immediately produced the necessary sc• curity for his apppearance at the Sessions. Soon after the prisoner was hberater', two other persons appeared to 'hy simior - charges against him. The Magistrates &Aired them to go itinntAiately to the Sessions now sitting at Hicks's 7 Hall, and to prefer their indiCiments. . On Wednesday la st di e d, at hi s seat at Hagler Park, in Worcestershire, the Right Hon. Wm, HENRY Lord LYTTELTON, Baron 'of 14'rankley, IR the'County of Worcester, and also Baron Westcote, of Balamare, in the County of Longford, in Ireland, and an English Baronet. His Lordship was the youngest of. the suns, of Sir j rauslAi ' , MELTON, Bart. of whom GEORGE Lord •LyTTELTON. was the eldest. He was born on the 4th of January, 1725, and soon alter he came of age was elected Member of Parliament tor the Borough of Liewdly, and in 1766 he was appointed Governot of South Caiolina, afterwards 9f the Island of Jamaica, and in t 766, Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, to the Court of Lisbon, and on his return from Portugal was again eleCted Member for Bewdley, and in 1776 cleated a. Peer of Ireland, and soon after con stituted one of the Lords. Commissioners of the Trea sury, and in 1.794, the. English Peerage of Lyttelton, of F'rankley (extinct by his Nephew's decease, to the greaten part of whose e s tat es h e h a d succee d ed) was revived in his favour. His Lordship married in June, • 1761, MARY, daughter and co-heiress of JAMES MAcARTNEy, Esq. of Longford, in Ireland, by whom (who died in,1765) he. had a daughter, HESTER, married to Sir RICHARD COLT HOARE, Bart. of Stourhead, its Wiltshire, and two sons, .GEORGE FULKE; and CHARLES ADAM, since de ceased. His Lordship married, sec o ndly, Itebruary R, 1774, CAROLINE, daughter of JoHN BRISTow,, Esq. late of Quiddenham, in Norfolk, by whom he has had issue several children, of whom two only have survived him, viz. CAROLINE ANNE, married to the Right Hon. REGINALD POLE CAREW, ()lAD thony, in Cornwall, and WM. HENRY, now ooe of the Representatives in Parliament for the County of Worcester. His Lordship is succeeded in his ho nours and estate by, his,eldest son, GEORGE FULKE, now Lord Lyttelton. Last Saturday evening a man k Seemingly in great distress, went to the house of a respeUabLe fanner, named Walton, in the neighbourhood of Cr o yd o n, and asked permi s si on to sle'dp in his barn; a request. which, from his apparent ill state of health, n4e • farmer humanely and readily complied %vim. The next morning one - of the servants, going into the barn, was surprised to find that the pretended slck man had not only gone off, but had, with some as sistance, stolen a quantity of-corn in sacks, and a number of emptybags. Major-General ,RONALD CRANFORD FERGUSON, whose gallantry has been so cons,,icuous in Portu gal, is the ser:ond son of Wm. faaousoN, Esq. of Eaith, and Member of Parliament lox - the File trict of Burghs. I